With district play about to gear up next week, Jesuit and Destrehan both wanted to test their mettle on the opening day of the Gerard Oubre Memorial Tournament held on the Wildcats’ field.

They got what they wanted.

Ben Hess notched clutch hits as Jesuit scored five runs over the seventh and eight innings to break two ties with Destrehan and win 7-4.

“I’ve been working really hard in practice,” said Hess, who hit a solo home run in the seventh inning and drove in two more runs in the eighth. “I just knew that I got to keep my leg down. That’s what my biggest problem is right now. It’s all because of my teammates that I come up to the plate with the right mindset. They just did a great job.”

Hess' home run gave Jesuit (12-2) a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning, and the Blue Jays added another run with a pair of doubles by Brandon Sequeira and Alex Galy. Galy's double drove in courtesy runner Nick Ray to make the score 4-2.

Destrehan (8-7) pushed the game into extra innings with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, when Logan Krajcer and Brennan Breaud each sacrificed in a run.

Jesuit scored three more runs in the eighth. Spencer Miller doubled off the wall, and relief pitcher Tyler Winters hit Trent Forshag and walked Stephen Sigle to load the bases after a sacrifice bunt by Harrison Daste.

That's when Hess hit a two-RBI single through the middle of the infield that just out of reach of the shortstop. Sequeira followed with an RBI single to left field to give Jesuit a 7-4 lead.

“I just had to come up and put the ball on the ground,” Hess said. “I needed to do something effective, but whatever I do, just don’t pop it up.”

Pitcher Mason Mayfield came on in the bottom of the eighth to close it out.

Sequeira went 2-for-2 with two walks, two hits and an RBI and also pitched seven innings, giving up five hits with four strikeouts.

“We got the big home run there in the seventh,” Jesuit Coach Joey Latino said. “But in this ballpark and the way (Destrehan) plays, they’re always going to be in the game. I was proud of the way we came back in the eighth though and put up three runs which was big.

“Hess hasn’t been hot, so it was good to see him get on track today. Galy had the clutch hit. It was just different guys. I told them after the game that’s the characteristic of a good team, and it’s not always the same guys coming through every single game.”

Hunter Abadie went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Sam Steib went 2-for-4 to lead Destrehan.

Even though his team lost, Destrehan Coach Marty Luquet liked how his players fought until the end.

“Our comeback was good,” Luquet said “We did the things we had to do to get us back in that spot. It was just a combination of two good teams battling each other.

Both teams will continue tournament play Friday when Jesuit plays West Ouachita at 6 p.m. and Destrehan will take on Holy Cross at 4 p.m.

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Andrew Valenti can be reached at avalenti@nola.com or 504.826.3405. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com\Valenti_Andrew.